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GO electrification sparks transit wars in mayor’s race

John Tory says he’s confident province’s electrification plans play into his SmartTrack platform in his run for mayor.

Presto devices show at a the Metrolinx board meeting Thursday, including this Presto fare transaction processor fitted to the front end of an existing subway turnstile. (Bernard Weil / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

The provincial promise to electrify GO trains in a decade is inserting itself in the Toronto mayor’s race despite the insistence of senior Metrolinx officials that they remain neutral regarding the civic election.

Mayoral candidate John Tory said Metrolinx’s plans confirm his own SmartTrack plan, which calls for 53 kilometres of transit and 22 new stops on a “surface subway” that would connect the airport with Markham.

But the electrification of the Kitchener and Stouffville GO lines would be key to realizing that plan in seven years — something that Olivia Chow, Tory’s rival for the mayor’s chair, has suggested isn’t likely.

Metrolinx officials haven’t said how they will phase in system-wide electrification. But Tory says the case for the Kitchener and Stouffville lines is compelling.

“I’m confident that when they have to prioritize they are going to pick these lines among the first to do because they make so much sense to do first to relieve the huge pressure that exists in 416,” he said, at a press conference outside the Metrolinx board meeting.

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He added that, if he becomes mayor, it’s something he would champion.

Metrolinx staff will report back on the sequencing of electrification in September, just as the municipal election campaign goes into its final weeks.

While a 2010 Metrolinx study identified the Lakeshore East and West corridors and the Kitchener line as the priorities for electrification, CEO Bruce McCuaig said those assumptions have to be re-examined in the context of the province’s new 10-year timeline. The airport rail link is the furthest along: its environmental assessment of electrification is complete.

The cost of implementing regional express rail — including electrification, 15-minute service on all lines, grade separations and rolling stock — is estimated to be from $10 billion to $12 billion, he said.

The province has said it will spend $15 billion on Toronto region transit in the next decade.

Metrolinx staff are also being asked to report back on when and if Toronto still needs a downtown relief subway line to take the load off the Yonge subway now that GO regional express rail is moving ahead within 10 years.

Metrolinx vice-president Leslie Woo told the board that a subway will still be needed but the agency must reconsider the timelines, given other projects such as regional express rail.

New Presto for new TTC streetcars

It doesn’t slice and dice, but the Presto fare card readers being installed on the new TTC streetcars will do more than just accept a tap of the electronic fare cards.

The machines, estimated to cost between $15,000 and $20,000 each, will also take tokens and cash, accept a tap-on credit or debit card and issue a receipt that can be used as proof of payment and as a transfer to another TTC vehicle. A touchscreen lets the rider indicate whether they’re buying a child, senior or adult fare.

It won’t, however, include the cancellation and override features available on GO Transit’s Presto readers.

The TTC will incorporate two of the machines on each of its new supersized streetcars starting in November. The first streetcars begin rolling Aug. 31 on Spadina but transit officials are waiting a few more months to go live with Presto to make sure it has been tested properly.

There will also be additional vending units on some platforms and Toronto street corners. But the precise number and location of the on-street devices hasn’t been determined yet, said Robert Hollis, executive vice-president Presto, who unveiled a prototype at Thursday’s Metrolinx board meeting.

The Presto readers already in use at 14 TTC stations will be updated with new units that offer a larger visual display. Another 12 subway stations will be equipped with the readers in the first wave of the TTC rollout. Those will eventually be installed on all buses too.

In some cases the TTC’s old turnstiles are being replaced with new electronic Presto fare gates designed to move riders faster. The new gates, which can be a tight fit in some of the older stations on the Yonge line, automatically lower a barrier allowing a rider to immediately pass through once they have tapped their Presto card.

The TTC plans an extensive communications program to teach riders to use the new payment system, particularly in the early going, when the old token-Metropass system and Presto will be in use simultaneously through the transit system.

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